When Adobe inadvertently made free downloads of Creative Suite 2 available, a student mentioned seeing it on Tumblr, but discounted it as one of those rumors so easily spread on the Internet. However, my own child was eager to have some version of graphic software that would work with a pen tablet received as a gift. So, I did my own research.

Unable to find information on Adobe.com. I checked Google. Forbes said the free download was not available. I sorted through recent posts on IT newsletters (some of my more reliable sources to deal with technology rumors) and armed with two links I was able to locate the actual page on Adobe.com. It explained that although this download might have trouble running on Windows 7, the software was available at no cost. So the gift of an out-of-date version of Adobe, was now available.

Often, I hear teachers bemoan students lack…